"Some of the seed "outside covers " seem stuck."

Called 'helmet heads' it is usually caused by too shallow planting and/or too dry surface soil. A enzymes in a drop of spit dissolves them enough for easy removal.

You'll find numerous discussions about all this over on the Growing from Seed forum and in the FAQs there. But briefly, misting is for germination only, not after sprouting. Begin bottom watering as soon as they break the soil surface. Jiffy mix gets very mixed reviews - many better mediums. Learn to not use a dome at all given all the problems they cause and transplant those now, deep, into a good growing medium for best results.

Dave

Thanks. I have some better medium and another grow light to handle more growing space .

I transplanted and started a new topic in the Growing from Seed section.

Well I didn't really mean for you to start new as at this time of year that forum is pretty inactive. It goes gung ho in the early spring but It isn't seed starting time for most right now.

Rather browse through all the FAQs on that forum and all the previous discussions relevant to your questions using the search of that forum.

Dave

Thanks. This is what is under "Transplanting" in the FAQ for the Growing from seed section:.

"Transplant into prepared soil being careful to plant at the same soil depth. Do not cover up the stem. "

I covered up the stem. It seems to me covering the stem makes sense. There is a chance for more root growth, since tomatoes will make roots right off the stem. I had to cover the stem to plant deep.

I spent some time going through that section before I started and chose to plop my question here due to the higher seasonal traffic. There seems to be some other inconsistencies, if my memory serves right, and way too much use of pellets and peat pots.

Another inconsistency :.

"When they're big enough to handle,usually when they have 2-3 sets of leaves, it's time to transplant them to individual containers,or space them out if you have them in a community flat. "

Do we really need to wait for 2-3 sets of leaves?

What Dave said (ALWAYS what Dave said). But: why are you starting seeds in July in zone 8b?? Seeds are normally started indoors before the last frost date, in the case of tomatoes, to get a jump on the growing season; maybe I'm missing something. Anyway, I start seeds in April, and I plant 4-6 seeds per cell and trim to the healthiest looking plant once germination is complete. Tomato seed germination isn't that great. I place my 6-packs on capillary mats in growing trays and water from the bottom, with the whole thing on a heated germination pad. Grow lights 1 centimeter from the tops of leaves once germinated. I personally like clear lids on the trays before germination, but your mileage may vary. You must "Pot Up" into a 4X4" cell once you have a couple of true leaves, tomatoes thrive on this. I use a dinner fork, works very well. Then Pot Up again if you don't plant out within another 2-3 weeks, depending on the weather. I never plant out if the forecast is not for 55 degrees or better at night.

At least in this part of zone 8b, there are TWO summer seasons, and the second starts right about now. Tomatoes often pretty much die around now down here. Too much trouble to keep them going through the heat, especially since they won't come close to fruiting. The last frost date here was five months ago! To the extent the SVBs killed your cucurbits, good idea to start some more around now. We can harvest until December

Wow 2 seasons! Any time I tried starting seeds in summer or fall (usually as a saved seed experiment) they always looked sick. Direct sow in the garden?

It turns out I am in 9a and I am going for 2nd summer season. I thought I was in 8b.

I know Dave is always right and I very much appreciate his advice/contributions and feedback. I can only imagine what my seedlings would like like in six weeks if not for the well timed advice I just received from Dave.

Conditions outside are too hostile for a seedling in my opinion. It is very hot. We were tying record highs. There is a reason there are two seasons, with a pause in the middle, and not just one long season. It is too dang hot to set fruit or grow a tomato. The Big Beefs manage to set a couple, but the fruit are too small. The heat interferes with the growing.

I may try to start transplants from existing plants, but conditions are so bad, I don't think I can count on the plants making it. New seedlings give me options. Plus I need better seedling growing skills.

This will be my first second growing season. I suspect I will learn a lot. The stink bugs will have to be dealt with. I will not grow for them. I plan to try the kaolin clay. I was pleased to learn it can protect squashes. I love squash but vines are usually short lived. I have chased and chased the svb wasp and spent hours hunting eggs, plus injected with liquid bt. I finally gave up.

Well, I routinely transplant squash in July and August, to fill in gaps where the SVBs did their damage. Works fine. Also, I understand that cukes are best staggered to retain productivity. I would think that if you're careful with watering, tomatoes would do fine too, though they wouldn't get big enough to flower until October, when you might get a chance of setting fruit. But yes, direct seeding in a Central Texas high summer is probably not that smart.

Certainly DE (and I presume Kaolin clay) will prevent stink bug damage. I routinely use it on my tomatoes.

But that's an important point about two seasons with a gap. Certainly for tomatoes, my first season ends in early June. Peppers and eggplants will slow a lot in fruiting in mid-summer. August is pretty much all about survival, and in many cases, it just isn't worth it.

Looking at your picture, I immediately thought that they are not getting enough light an/or the light source is not close enough.

By dome experiment you've learned a good lesson ;-)

I would also bottom water and try to keep the top of soil as dry as possible. This is especially when transplanted into individual cells.Gnat get into soil mostly from top.

When to transplant into individual cells ? You can do it when they have established cots or wait until they have couple of true leaves. I do bot ways, depending on how crowded they are.

Sey

Janice, I can vouch for the weather somewhat, as I have visited Myrtle Beach a couple times in late summer, around Labor Day. I had been living in Dallas many years at the time, and even tho the summers there are just plain brutal for 2-3 months, the weather in MB was so oppressively hot and humid. I went there to play golf, and after about half an hour outside was soaked, and I don't really sweat. I marvelled at how anyone could actually live in such a place. Guess it's what you get used to, I suppose. Moving up here to KY has been quite an adjustment for me, especially when it comes to winter, but I think I've kind of settled in.

I spent 18 years in ky, grew up there. Definitely four seasons. My father always had a big tomato patch. There would be ripening tomatoes everywhere, inside the house and out, on every surface available. I could have as many as I wanted. We ate them like apples. He grew them real close together in cages. I have often wondered why, we had gobs of growing space. Then I figured it out one day. We were in tornado alley. To secure the plants, he ran an iron rod through all the cages in a row and pinned the ends with Iron rods in the shape of an L. We got hit regular, and lost trees and sometimes livestock and a barn, but the tomatoes were safe. The iron rods must not have been cheap.

if you come to SC 15 June thru 15 Sept, go to the beach or get on a river. I spent some time last week on Shell Island, which is ocean front. Even though hot, there was a strong Breeze and no bugs. We boat a lot. Usually ok on the water or in it. There is no place like home, but the scenery here almost makes up for it.

Usually when I go out in the heat, it is a short session. I just came in from picking cucumbers. The heat is ok this late in the day, but the dang mosquitos are terrible. They like to wait until it is cool too before coming out. If I cover up, it's suffocating. One year I put up a sprinkler for me. That seemed to work well. I could wear coverage to keep the bloodsuckers at bay and get drenched to stay cool.

There is a beautiful mortgage lifter out there, still green, that the stink bugs have not marked up yet. It is in partial shade and growing bigger than those in full sun.

I transplanted all seedlings within four hours after Dave advised it. That was two days ago. I went straight to solo cups as that is what I had on hand. I will take some photos and post after dinner. They seem fine. All working on true leaves. What I don't know is this: do I have enough light?

View inside the solo cup:

View from the side:

View from the top looking down:

There are two lights. The thinner one has one bulb. The thicker one has two. The thin one is a real grow light. The thicker one is a shop light, just a regular light. Both are 4 foot long and have flourescent bulbs.

Didn't you say you were in Madisonville? I wouldn't think that area was known for twisters. But, it is out there in the west part of the state where it's less mountainous than here. I grew up in NE OK, smack dab in the middle of tornado alley. April thru June there was always an adventure

When I was in MB back in 2004, I remember thinking I'd go cool off on the beach, and get some sun. I wasn't out there more than half an hour, and ended up getting blistered, and I don't usually sunburn too bad. But, guess it was the brilliant sun bouncing off the water and white sand that was too intense. Made the rest of my vacation very uncomfortable wearing shirts.

I just came in from being outside in the tomato patch. Had to come back in, dry off and change into my third shirt for the day! And I still have to go out later to run the bush hog over the south pasture, thankfully the tractor has a canopy on it, supposed to be close to 90 later today. We had some heavy rain this morning, but now the sun's out so it's nice and steamy.